icehockeyfandomcom-20200214-history
Reggie Leach
Reginald Joseph Leach *Born: April 23, 1950 in Riverton, Manitoba *Hometown: Riverton, Manitoba *Position: Right Wing Selected by Boston Bruins 1st round (#3) in 1970 NHL Amateur Draft made junior debut with Flin Flon (MJHL) at 16 in 1966-67. ... played on a line with Bobby Clarke. ... scored 67 goals, a league record for right wingers. ... finished fourth in league scoring with 113 points in 45 games. ... led playoffs in points (30) and goals (18). ... named to First All-Star Team. ... won the first of three junior championships. ... in 1967-68, set WCJHL record with 87 goals. ... named to First All-Star Team. ... missed most of 1968-69 season with separated shoulder. ... came back to lead WCHL playoffs with 13 goals. ... named to First All-Star Team. ... Flin Flon won the league championship. ... succeeded Clarke as team captain for 1969-70. ... led WCHL with 65 goals. ... won Brownridge Trophy as the league's top scorer with 111 points. ... led playoffs with 16 goals. ... named to First All-Star Team. ... named league MVP. ... Flin Flon won their second straight league title. ... the third player claimed in the 1970 Amateur Draft when Boston called his name. ... the Bruins were in the midst of winning the Stanley Cup twice in three years and were too deep in talent to give the youngster a fair shot. ... on February 23, 1972, was part of the package sent to California to acquire Carol Vadnais. ... had back to back 20 goal seasons in 1972-73 and 1973-74. ... got decent playing time, but had few quality players to play with. ... that all changed in the May of 1974. ... only days after Philadelphia won the Stanley Cup, Flyers GM Keith Allen asked Bobby Clarke, his opinion about acquiring Reggie. … is a retired professional ice hockey winger who played in the NHL between 1970 and 1983. He is of First Nations ethnicity. Playing career Nicknamed "The Riverton Rifle", Leach was drafted third overall by the Boston Bruins in the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft. He played 934 career NHL games, scoring 381 goals and 285 assists for 666 points. His best season was the 1975–76 season, when he set career highs in goals (61), points (91), game-winning goals (11), and plus-minus with a +73 rating. Those 61 goals gave him the goal-scoring title (now the Richard Trophy) for the season. He is best remembered as being one of very few players to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs from the losing team in the Stanley Cup finals, a distinction he achieved while playing for the Philadelphia Flyers, as they were defeated by the Montreal Canadiens in 1976. He is the only non-goaltender to win this award in a losing cause. Leach won the trophy after setting the NHL record for most goals in the playoffs (19), a record that stands to this day. During that same playoff season Leach recorded a five-goal game vs. the Boston Bruins, a record shared with Maurice Richard and Darryl Sittler. Also, his total of 80 goals for the season and playoffs together set a new NHL record which stood until 1980-81 when Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders scored 85. Coaching career In late 2007, Leach joined the Manitoulin Islanders of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League as an associate coach. In the spring of 2008, it was announced that Leach would return to Manitoulin for the 2008–09 season as the full-time head coach and director of hockey operations. Career Statistics Playing Coaching Career Moves *Signed by Boston, June 25, 1970 *Traded by Boston to California with Rick Smith and Bob Stewart for Carol Vadnais and Don O'Donoghue, February 23, 1972. *Traded by California to Philadelphia for Larry Wright, Al MacAdam and Philadelphia's 1st round choice (Ron Chipperfield) in 1974 Amateur Draft, May 24, 1974. *Signed as a free agent by Detroit, August 25, 1982. Awards & Achievements *'Manitoba Junior Hockey League' Record Most Goals--Right Winger 67 (1967) *'Manitoba Junior Hockey League' First All-Star Team (1967) *Turnbull Cup Manitoba Junior Hockey League Championship (1967) *'Western Canada Junior Hockey League Goal Scoring Leader (1968)', setting League Record of 87 *'Western Canada Hockey League' League Record Most Points--Right Winger 131 *'Western Canada Hockey League First All-Star Team (1968, 1969, & 1970)' *President's Cup Western Canada Hockey League Championship (1969 & 1970) *'Western Canada Hockey League Goal Scoring Leader (1970)' *Brownridge Trophy Western Canada Hockey League Scoring Champion (1970) *'Western Canada Hockey League MVP (1970)' *Stanley Cup National Hockey League Championship (1975) *'National Hockey League Goal Scoring Leader (1976)' *'National Hockey League Second All-Star Team (1976)' *Conn Smythe Trophy National Hockey League Playoff MVP (1976) *Played in NHL All-Star Game (1976 & 1980) *Played in the Canada Cup Tournament for Canada (1976) *Inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in 1997 *Selected to Manitoba's All-Century Second All-Star Team *“Honoured Member” of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame External links Category:Born in 1950 Category:Canadian ice hockey players Category: Flin Flon Bombers (MJHL) players Category:Flin Flon Bombers (WHL) players Category: Boston Bruins draft picks Category:Oklahoma City Blazers (1965-1977) players Category:Boston Bruins players Category:California Golden Seals players Category:Philadelphia Flyers players Category:Montana Magic players Category:Madison Monsters players Category:Retired in 1984 Category:Retired in 1998 Category:Manitoba junior hockey All-Time Roster Category:Aboriginal ice hockey players Category:Detroit Red Wings players Category:Canadian ice hockey coaches Category:Manitoulin Islanders coaches